Welcome To The FECC Forum - More than 30 Million visitors can't be wrong

Davide

The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Mon Apr 06, 2009 1:35 am

I thought it would be good to get the 'Jailhouse Rock' recording sessions photographs together. I have seen them on this forum,but what I have tried to do is put them in the order of when they were taken by the photographer. In that way it may reveal more information on the sessions themselves,or more than likely it will ask more questions than it answers.

songs originally submitted for the Soundtrack - from a letter on 'Elvis Presley Music,Inc' dated March 30th 1957,from Jean Aberbach to Colonel Parker.

Tepper - Bennett : Quarters,Nickles,and Dimes Young Hearts One More Day

Leiber and Stoller : Jailhouse Rock Sands Of Time Treat Me Nice I Want To Be Free Yeah,Yeah,Yeah

Bernie Weisman : Lonesome Blue

Aaron Schroder and Josephine Peoples : That Ain't Right

Rosemarie McCoy and Kelly Owens : Don't Be Araid

Quaters,Nickles and Dimes'

Roy C Bennett interviewed by William Bram in ETMAHM No. 38

WB : The last time I spoke to you,you mentioned that you knew of one song of yours that you thought Elvis had recorded that was never released : 'Quaters,Nickles and Dimes'...RB Yes , We wrote and re-wrote that lyric over the phone to California, I don't remember how many times. Aberbach spent a lot of money on telephone calls. I don't know if it was ever recorded, but it was submitted.WB : Do you recall what movie that was for?RB : One of the early ones.

2. 'One More Day'

WB : In Jailhouse Rock there is one of your songs sung by Mickey Shaughnessy called 'One More Day'. The song was written for Elvis,is that correct?RB : Absolutely of course there was no pay-off because he never recorded it. It's never played except in the movie,no album sales.

These three image's have been taken for publicity use by MGM studios and RCA Victor,and are not part of the actual recording sessions. Elvis is seen holding Scotty Moores Gibson guitar.

The three photographs above are also taken for publicity use by MGM studios and RCA Victor.Elvis is seen using D.J. Fontana's Drum kit. It can be seen by looking at the background that all the above images are from the same postion in the studio.

STOLLER: They asked us to write songs for the movie. We did "Loving You" and then "Jailhouse Rock." Then we were informed that he wanted us to be in the studio. Because he knew the records that we were making.LEIBER: He was a fan of our's. In fact, he was a fan of our's before he started making records for Sun Records and Sam Phillips. He knew what we did.

Elvis at the piano.

Elvis smiles for the camera as Hoyt Hawkins approach's from Elvis's right shoulder.

The photographer as now moved to the right slightly as Hoyt Hawkins leans in to attend to some sheet music. The smaller image is the same but full frame with Junior Smith.

Unknown,Elvis ,Hoyt Hawkins and Junior Smith.This image is of interest as the studio clock can be seen with a time of 10.35 am. The sessions was officially booked from 10.00 am. according to the studio logs.

A publicity photograph with Mike Stoller,Elvis holding some sheet music for 'Jailhouse Rock' and Jerry Leiber

STOLLER: We went to New York because we had started making records for Atlantic Records. And we also had some notions about writing for theater. We were given a script. By Gene Auerbach, who said, "We need songs for the new movie." I forget what the movie was called then. Somebody told me this that the original title was Ghost of a Chance. We kind of tossed it in the corner with some other magazines, and we were having a great time in New York. There was a scene. We didn't read the script that carefully, but we thumbed through, and Jerry saw that there was an amateur show in a prison. So he wrote "Jailhouse Rock." LEIBER: He shoved the sofa against the door. And he stretched out on the sofa, and said, "Boys, I'm gonna stay here until you give me the score." We wrote those songs in about three hours, all four of them. We wrote four songs, and one was "Jailhouse Rock."STOLLER: The others were "Treat Me Nice" and "You're So Square (I Don't Care)" and "I Want To Be Free."

This photograph was taken just after the piano shots (above) as you can see Hoyt Hawkins in the same postion to Elvis's right.Junior Smith looks over Elvis's shoulder,Arthur Hooton, Bill Black has hold of his upright bass so it must be concluded that these shots are the start of rehearsals,and less, a photo opportunity.

Bill Black holds his upright bass.George Klein looks on as Elvis prepares for the recording.

Elvis looks to Scotty Moore,Neil Matthews on upright bass,Bill Black is adjusting the electric bass,Dudley Brooks on piano and Scotty Moore can be seen right of frame sat with his guitar.

This looks like the rehearsals for the number 'Jailhouse Rock' which was the first song to be put down on tape that day.Neal Matthews is sat left of frame with the upright bass. (The Daily music report states both Bass and Bass guitar for the track) Bill Black is next to him with the new and unfamiliar electric bass.Elvis is stood(facing the studio wall),Scotty Moore is sat down on guitar on the right of frame.Dudley Brooks is obscured behind Neil Matthews and D.J. Fontana is obscured behind Elvis. It does't look like recording has started yet as Scotty isn't wearing any headphones. It's possible that Elvis and the musicians are talking/getting directions from Leiber and Stoller?

Mike Stoller : "I sat at the piano and Jerry Leiber kicked off a run through of 'Jailhouse Rock'.It was starting to feel good.Jerry made some suggestions to D.J. and Bill and we tried it again.Elvis said,'OK,let's make it.Jerry ran into the control booth and set the temp,snapping his fingers over the intercom.And that is the way those sessions went - with Jerry directing from inside the booth,me at the piano,and everyone else doing what they knew how do it."^^^

"Our role on those sessions evolved. Elvis trusted us, and nobody stopped us. Colonel Tom came in and out of the studio. When Steve Sholes was there, he would call out the take slates, like "RCA 39-4734, take three." When we took over we just started yelling, "'jallhouse Rock' take four, 'Jailbouse Rock' take five!" Jerry worked from the booth, but he would come out on the floor too. I worked in there with the musicians. I played piano on just one track, "Treat Me Nice." Dudley Brooks played on the other sides. He was a good piano player. Scotty Moore, Bill Black, D.J. Fontana, and The Jordanaires were also on the sessions. Jerry and I worked together with Elvis very well"

LEIBER : "Let's get started," Elvis said. "Let's cut some records."We jumped right into "Jailhouse Rock." The initial idea was just to show up at the studio to meet Elvis. But, as naturally as the winter turns to spring, we found ourselves in charge of the session. We were producing the guy. Mike worked out the arrangement with Elvis's band — Bill Black on upright bass, Scotty Moore on guitar, D.J. Fontana on drums, and Dudley Brooks on piano. As far as the vocals went, I was amazed to see that Elvis was happy to hear me sing the song with what I considered the right attitude. He was following my vocal cues.

STOLLER : Elvis was completely open and never acted like a diva. When it was time to do the actual recording, Jerry was in the control booth and I stayed on the floor. I played piano on one cut, and Jerry, with his unique style of body language, conducted Elvis's vocals.

The other thing that amazed us was that no one was rushing us to get through. During a recording session, Jerry and I were used to watching the clock. The musicians' union allowed four songs in three hours or you got into the dreaded overtime. On Elvis's sessions, though, those restrictions were lifted. The Jordanaires the guys in the band and Elvis's paid companions the so-called Memphis Mafia would order lunch — peanut butter sandwiches and orange pop — while the clock kept ticking.

Sometimes we'd do two or three takes on a song; sometimes up to twenty-five. And yet, even in this relaxed atmosphere, by evening time we'd cut three songs.*

LEIBER: You don't know when he was gonna stop improving. And when you felt he did, and you got Take 25 or 30 and it was good, we'd often go for Take 31. Because we felt it might be greater. And often it would be. So we'd always go for one or two more after he did a great take.

'Jailhouse Rock'

Three shots from the morning of April the 30th as Elvis records 'Jailhouse Rock'. The wider shots reveal that Elvis has taken his jacket off,and hung it from the microphone stand.In this lower image Scotty Moore is sat on the left(now with headphones on)Dudley brooks on piano,who has now taken his jacket off also, and interestingly he is playing with his back to Elvis.Elvis has now postioned himself with his back to the studio wall,with D.J.Fontana on drums.listening to the track and looking at these images gives a feel on what it was like in the studio that day. The binaural versions work well although it is preferable to swop channels,i.e. have Elvis's vocal in the right ear/speaker.Binaural : Take 3,4,5 - 'Elvis By The Presley's' Binaural : Spliced master - 'Close Up' CD.1 Track 10.

The intro to Jailhouse Rock was devised by Scotty Moore and D.J Fontana (lack of a demo version).It was based on a 1940's swing-style version of Verdi's 'Anvil Chorus'( from the opera II Trovatore)

It would be logical if the photographer only stayed around until the lunch break which commenced at 1.45pm(photographic evidence supports this). This would suggest that 'Jailhouse Rock' and 'Treat Me Nice' were recorded in the morning session and 'Young and Beautiful' was completed in the afternoon session(hence no images from this segment) finishing around 6.00pm.Note: There is no photographic evidence,or any audio of Leiber and Stoller at the session on Tuesday April 30th 1957.Ernst Jorgensen wrote in 'A Life In Music' "Jerry and Mike became an intergral part of the recording effort-both in the control room and on the studio floor".2.45pm - 6.10pm

Young And Beautiful Young And Beautiful (Movie End Version) Young And Beautiful (Solo Version) Young And Beautiful (Florita Club Version)(*)

May 3 1957 Treat Me Nice (Second Movie Version) I Want To Be Free (Prison TV Version) I Want To Be Free I Want To Be Free (Pickup First Ending) I Want To Be Free (Pickup Second Ending) I Want To Be Free (Composite Record Version) Baby I Don't Care (Rhythm Track) Baby I Don't Care (First Vocal Overdub) Don't Leave Me Now (Elvis' Piano Version) Don't Leave Me Now (Hit Record Version)

Although at Radio Recorders,this is a different studio to the 30th April 1957 session.It looks to be a larger room,and postion's for an orchestra can be seen in the background.

Ernst Jorgensen wrote " The next morning(May 1st) Leiber and Stoller stayed on to help with their song "I Want To Be Free". Once again the film called for three versions and once again the boys got a slow start-probably because Elvis spent most of the morning singing gospel music around the piano with the Jordanaires". "Mike Stoller sat down at the piano stall to guide the arrangement,but early takes were very tenative" ^^

Gordon Stoker, Neil Matthews,Hoyt Hawkins at the piano,D.J. Fontana,George Klein,Elvis and Hugh Jarrett gather around for some warm up harmonies.STOLLER: He was constantly singing. Between songs, he would sing a hymn. He would go to the piano and play a few chords and sing a hymn.He had The Jordanaires with him. And they'd come in behind him. That's what he wanted to do all the time.LEIBER: "Nearer My God To Thee." Stuff like that. White Baptist hymns.

George Klein,Elvis D.J. Fontana,Scotty Moore,Unidentified** and Hoyt Hawkins on piano

During the lunch break, Jeff Alexander (MGM representative)in an attempt to get the proceedings back on track, instructed or suggested to the Jordanaires not to get involved in any more spirituals with Elvis.Gordon Stoker remembers that Jeff Alexander approached them :"Get him off this stuff,In fact if he starts singing,don't sing with him.So Elvis came back from lunch and started at the piano and we didn't sing. Elvis asked ' Hey what's wrong with you guys?'..and it fell to my duty to say,'Elvis, they told us we couldn't sing with you'. He got up and said 'If I want to bring you guys out here and sing the entire week of spirituals,this is what we'll do'. And he left,just walked out and left " Elvis didn't return until friday 3rd May.

Dudley Brooks at the piano,Hugh Jarrett, same unknown sat at the drum kit, Bill Black, Elvis holding electric bass and Scotty Moore on guitar, unknown lower right of frame.

Elvis at the mike, Hugh Jarrett, Gordon Stoker stood up singing, D.J. Fontana on drums, Neil Matthews and Hoyt Hawkins also stood up singing background vocals, and unknown sat lower left of frame.

Elvis sat with the electric bass.

Mike Stoller " I played piano on just one track, 'Treat Me Nice'.*^ Dudley Brooks played on the other sides. He was a good piano player". "I liked that track,I don't know that I played that well but it seemed to work"

The story is that Bill Black struggled with electric bass during the number 'Baby I don't Care' and that he then threw the guitar down on the floor leaving Elvis to play on the track,putting his vocals on later,with a "scratch" vocal from Jerry Leiber.Gordon Stoker" Most artists would have said,You pick that bass up and play it buster,that's your job,but not Elvis,You know what Elvis did? Elvis thought it was funny.He picked it up that bass,put his foot on my chair and played that song all the way through"

STOLLER : He was back on Friday to do the fourth song, "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care."

LEIBER : The fourth song was the most fun because by then Elvis was deep into our producing style. Our style wasn't anything more than being loose and having fun. Elvis's initial shyness had totally melted away and he was completely in the spirit of the music. He actually picked up an electric bass and kicked off the intro to "Baby I Don't Care." It also pleased me no end that even when I thought we had a perfect vocal take, Elvis would want to do another — and then another. Each one would be better. He was digging deep and coming up with great new ammunition. Asked if Elvis would ever play guitar while doing vocals?LEIBER: No.STOLLER: Once in a while he'd pick up an electric bass guitar -- it was in those days, it wasn't real electric bass - and fool around with it. But usually he just sang.

George Klein: On 'Baby I Don't Care' The Fender electric bass had just come out at that time, and Bill Black was using the upright bass..In live concerts you really couldn't hear the upright,they couldn't mike it up well cause the sound systems in those days weren't very good. So it was really just for effect. When the Fender bass came out it was electrified and Elvis loved it because it'd be great in concert - it gave him a bass sound behind him. So when it first came out Bill Black had to learn how to play it,and he was having a little trouble,and on the 'Jailhouse Rock' session, when they got to 'Baby I Don't Care' and the intro that's on there, Bill couldn't get it down like Elvis wanted it,so Elvis played it. He recorded it then he sang over it. I think he played guitar on 'One Night' too, I'm not sure,perhaps Scotty played that..but I know on 'Baby I Don't Care' he played bass.*

Elvis told Harrison Carroll in his column 'The Hollywood Scene' Dated Friday June 7th 1957."On the set of his MGM movie, 'Jailhouse Rock' Elvis Presley told me he believes his song in the picture,'Treat Me Nice', may be his biggest hit since 'Don't Be Cruel' which sold 5,000,000 records.

Notes & Credits.1.If what to appears to be white shoes is actually his black shoes catching the light/reflection(Elvis sat with Bill black stood laughing) and Elvis has taken his shoes off and is stood in white socks( stood singing with group) then all photo's from this section can be dated May 3rd 1957.Update :Thanks to E-Cat I can now date these as May 3rd 1957.2.Flashback FTD CD/Book credits Tiny Timbrull : Guitar on Treat Me Nice(April 30th)I Want To Be Free,Don't Leave Me Know(May 3) I can not find any other reference to Mr Timbrull being on these sessions.*ETMAHM No. 6^^ Colin Escott in the CD 'Close up' box set notes^^^Taken from the notes on the LP 'Elvis Presley Sings Leiber & Stoller'**Could be Jeff Alexander (MGM)thanks to drjohncarpenter*^ Reference to May 3rd session(*)Keith Flynn(**)Master&Session***Elvis's group consisted of George Klein,Arthur Hooton,Gene Smith,Lamar Fike,Junior Smith and Cliff Gleaves.http://www.bluerailroad.com By PAUL ZOLLO*http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/books/excerpt-hound-dog.html?pagewanted=1

Last edited by davide on Thu Jun 30, 2011 1:13 pm, edited 21 times in total.

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Mon Apr 06, 2009 11:19 am

Fantastic, thanks for this!

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Mon Apr 06, 2009 11:25 am

A great post,very interesting,thanks

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Mon Apr 06, 2009 11:33 am

Nicely done davide!

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Mon Apr 06, 2009 2:36 pm

davide beautiful thank you

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:28 pm

Thanks for another brilliant topic davide.

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Mon Apr 06, 2009 4:32 pm

Cool. There's a couple of nice ones there I hadn't seen and a couple uncropped versions of stuff I had. I think a couple are from Ger's book Inside Jailhouse Rock too.

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Mon Apr 06, 2009 5:56 pm

Fantastic post ......thank you!

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Mon Apr 06, 2009 7:08 pm

Wow !!!Love itThank you Davide, as always you are doin a great job, lots of details and lots of photos One of my favorites topics: Photos and information from Recording sessions to see the recordings in "real time" Hope to see some day another post like this for ACAPULCO \ ROUSTABOUT \ GIRL HAPPY SESSIONSCant recall any pictures from those 3 recording sessions, would love to see them Have a great weekSincerelyLior

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Mon Apr 06, 2009 10:56 pm

Tremendous and enjoyable posting! Thank you.

Note: in the two photos where you are unsure if it is Gordon Stoker, the first is definitely Gordon, the second is not.

In fact, that second image may well depict MGM musical supervisor Jeff Alexander.

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:39 am

davide wrote:May 1st or May 3rd 1957Notice Elvis is wearing black shoes in this image and white/black ones in the other's. This has caused the dates to be inconclusive at this stage.

Another great post Davide, but Elvis is not wearing black shoes as you assumed. The cropped picture only show the top of the shoes but the less cropped picture below shows that he was wearing the same white/black shoes.....

apologies for the bad quality

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:45 am

Thanks E-Cat for that,I will change the dates.

JamesVRoy, thanks for the extra info on Radio Recorders - Would you know which studio is which by any chance? The photo you have with the caption "Studio B control room during an André Previn session in the '60s" looks like the studio Elvis used on April 30th 1957 which would be at 7000 Santa Monica Blvd?The tape legend for the 3rd May has the same studio marked as the April 30th session (reproduced page 143 of Flashback FTD book)Any thoughts ?

drjohncarpenter,thanks for the photo info.

thanks again Davide

Last edited by davide on Tue Apr 07, 2009 2:49 am, edited 1 time in total.

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Tue Apr 07, 2009 2:46 am

davide wrote:May 1st or May 3rd 1957.Dudley Brooks at the piano,Hugh Jarrett ,same unknown sat at the drum kit,Bill Black,Elvis holding electric bass and Scotty Moore on guitar,unknown lower right of frame.

Strange enough, EJ's book (A Life in Music) mentions that the picture is from May 5th. This date must be a mistake - there was no session that day.

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:48 am

Wow - thanx - what a great posting - a few shots there I've never seen before!! It's always so great to see Elvis in the studio .. I really hope we get to see more exclusive photos from his recording sessions.......it was great seeing more session photos in Elvis Sessions III.............

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Sun Apr 19, 2009 1:37 am

BUMP

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Sun Apr 19, 2009 2:36 am

davide wrote:Thanks E-Cat for that,I will change the dates.

JamesVRoy, thanks for the extra info on Radio Recorders - Would you know which studio is which by any chance? The photo you have with the caption "Studio B control room during an André Previn session in the '60s" looks like the studio Elvis used on April 30th 1957 which would be at 7000 Santa Monica Blvd?The tape legend for the 3rd May has the same studio marked as the April 30th session (reproduced page 143 of Flashback FTD book)Any thoughts ?

drjohncarpenter,thanks for the photo info.

thanks again Davide

Yes, all the studios at Radio Recorders at the time were at 7000 Santa monica Blvd when Elvis recorded in the 50s. The caption for the Andre Previn photo I beleive came with the photo from the company, Digital Excellence which if I remember correctly was the company that eventaully owned the business. They told me that was at the Santa Monica Blvd address too. There were 3 rooms there and I don't remember sure which ones were which from the photos from when I did the page. I could never really get a feel either how they were laid out looking at the the diagrams. Bob Moore identified one for me back then, I think the one where Elvis has the bass, but he didn't record with them there till the 60s

This is only speculation, but for simplification, let's call the wall to Elvis left the North wall and we're looking towards the NE corner.

this would be looking NW along the north wall.

given the orientation of the piano if it hadn't been moved this would be looking towards the SE corner

this would be roughly facing the south wall

to be honest though, I'm not even sure these are the same rooms. Most of the mics in the earlier ones are RCAs and the ones in the later look like Nuemans. What I called the south wall should be about where the control room should be.Is it possible that these pix with Elvis playing the Fender bass are from the September session at Radio Recorders? We've all heard the story about Elvis playing bass on Baby I Don't Care but it bugs me that Bill didn't get one of those until August of 57

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Tue Jul 27, 2010 1:58 am

Found a slightly less cropped version of the this shot,from Fans star library no 2

Also the songs originally submitted for the Soundtrack - from a letter on 'Elvis Presley Music,Inc' dated March 30th 1957,from Jean Aberbach to Colonel Parker.

Tepper - Bennett : Quarters,Nickles,and Dimes Young Hearts One More Day

Leiber and Stoller : Jailhouse Rock Sands Of Time Treat Me Nice I Want To Be Free Yeah,Yeah,Yeah

Last edited by davide on Mon Aug 09, 2010 9:38 am, edited 2 times in total.

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Wed Jul 28, 2010 9:09 pm

Another great post davide, thank you very much.

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Thu Aug 05, 2010 10:53 pm

davide wrote:songs originally submitted for the Soundtrack - from a letter on 'Elvis Presley Music, Inc' dated March 30th 1957,from Jean Aberbach to Colonel Parker.

Leiber and Stoller : Jailhouse Rock Sands Of Time Treat Me Nice I Want To Be Free Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

FYI:

"Sands of Time" is sufficiently obscure that I've never heard it; nobody has ever recorded it for release. The good news is, there is an acetate of a demo; the bad news is, the song was significantly rewritten after that acetate was recorded, so what's on it is not what Elvis heard. That later version seems to have been lost in, uh, the sands of time.

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" is an R&B number that was cut by Joe Liggins in 1954. Amongst other places, you can find it on Ace's The Leiber & Stoller Story, Vol. 1: Hard Times—The Los Angeles Years 1951-56.

Conspicuously absent from this list is "(You're So Square) Baby, I Don't Care."

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Thu Aug 05, 2010 11:05 pm

PStoller wrote:

davide wrote:songs originally submitted for the Soundtrack - from a letter on 'Elvis Presley Music, Inc' dated March 30th 1957,from Jean Aberbach to Colonel Parker.

Leiber and Stoller : Jailhouse Rock Sands Of Time Treat Me Nice I Want To Be Free Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

FYI:

"Sands of Time" is sufficiently obscure that I've never heard it; nobody has ever recorded it for release. The good news is, there is an acetate of a demo; the bad news is, the song was significantly rewritten after that acetate was recorded, so what's on it is not what Elvis heard. That later version seems to have been lost in, uh, the sands of time.

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" is an R&B number that was cut by Joe Liggins in 1954. Amongst other places, you can find it on Ace's The Leiber & Stoller Story, Vol. 1: Hard Times—The Los Angeles Years 1951-56.

Conspicuously absent from this list is "(You're So Square) Baby, I Don't Care."

PStoller, thank you. Always love seeing your awesome contributions!

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Fri Aug 06, 2010 1:07 am

midnightx wrote:

PStoller wrote:

davide wrote:songs originally submitted for the Soundtrack - from a letter on 'Elvis Presley Music, Inc' dated March 30th 1957,from Jean Aberbach to Colonel Parker.

Leiber and Stoller : Jailhouse Rock Sands Of Time Treat Me Nice I Want To Be Free Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

FYI:

"Sands of Time" is sufficiently obscure that I've never heard it; nobody has ever recorded it for release. The good news is, there is an acetate of a demo; the bad news is, the song was significantly rewritten after that acetate was recorded, so what's on it is not what Elvis heard. That later version seems to have been lost in, uh, the sands of time.

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" is an R&B number that was cut by Joe Liggins in 1954. Amongst other places, you can find it on Ace's The Leiber & Stoller Story, Vol. 1: Hard Times—The Los Angeles Years 1951-56.

Conspicuously absent from this list is "(You're So Square) Baby, I Don't Care."

PStoller, thank you. Always love seeing your awesome contributions!

Agreed!

It is possible "(You're So Square) Baby, I Don't Care" was a late add to the mix. Wish we knew for sure. It's neat to remember that it is Elvis playing the quarter notes on Bill Black's Fender Bass, after Black left the studio. Apparently, the final mix includes an acoustic bass doubling Elvis' work on the master take -- perhaps Bill made up for his impulsive retreat.

Among others, it has Freddie Bell's "Hound Dog" and Young Jessie's "Hot Dog." Woof!

Re: The Jailhouse Rock Sessions

Mon Aug 09, 2010 12:04 am

JamesVRoy wrote:

davide wrote:Thanks E-Cat for that,I will change the dates.

JamesVRoy, thanks for the extra info on Radio Recorders - Would you know which studio is which by any chance? The photo you have with the caption "Studio B control room during an André Previn session in the '60s" looks like the studio Elvis used on April 30th 1957 which would be at 7000 Santa Monica Blvd?The tape legend for the 3rd May has the same studio marked as the April 30th session (reproduced page 143 of Flashback FTD book)Any thoughts ?

drjohncarpenter,thanks for the photo info.

thanks again Davide

Yes, all the studios at Radio Recorders at the time were at 7000 Santa monica Blvd when Elvis recorded in the 50s. The caption for the Andre Previn photo I beleive came with the photo from the company, Digital Excellence which if I remember correctly was the company that eventaully owned the business. They told me that was at the Santa Monica Blvd address too. There were 3 rooms there and I don't remember sure which ones were which from the photos from when I did the page. I could never really get a feel either how they were laid out looking at the the diagrams. Bob Moore identified one for me back then, I think the one where Elvis has the bass, but he didn't record with them there till the 60s

This is only speculation, but for simplification, let's call the wall to Elvis left the North wall and we're looking towards the NE corner.

this would be looking NW along the north wall.

given the orientation of the piano if it hadn't been moved this would be looking towards the SE corner

this would be roughly facing the south wall

to be honest though, I'm not even sure these are the same rooms. Most of the mics in the earlier ones are RCAs and the ones in the later look like Nuemans. What I called the south wall should be about where the control room should be.Is it possible that these pix with Elvis playing the Fender bass are from the September session at Radio Recorders? We've all heard the story about Elvis playing bass on Baby I Don't Care but it bugs me that Bill didn't get one of those until August of 57

Hi Davide, After looking at these again I don't believe the ones with Elvis with the P-bass are from Radio Recorders, at least not the same studio as the others. You may be right in that they could be from the MGM soundstage. The ones that show the drumset are clearly in a different orientation then the others against the wall.